Comparing Apology To My Father

The two poems Apology to My Father by David Hutchison, and On the Birth of a Son by David Campbell, are very different at first glance. On closer examination of the similarities and differences of: audience, language, themes, messages, structure and readers role, connections can be made. Readers are rewarded by carefully reading these poems.

A man thinking about one specific event in his life and the regret he has always felt about that night, is the poem Apology to My Father. Back when the male, whos point of view the poems from, was a teenage boy, his father had just come back from war deathly wounded. They are sitting by the fireplace listening to a storm, almost falling asleep, the father tells the son to go to bed and as hes leaving the room, the son goes to kiss his father on the forehead, but hesitates. This hurts his father and the son leans down, but only giving a half-hearted kiss. In the morning his father is dead and that is the regret that will follow the son for the rest of his life. On the Birth of a Son however, is about a father fearing fatherhood and if the child will get along with him, be nice and whether he will be good at fatherhood or a failure, but then he sees his son and
everything just relaxes and becomes naturally easy.

These poems are both definitely aimed at the more mature and English-literate young adults and fully-fledged adults.
Although one is easier to decipher than the other, they both require work to get to the roots of the true meaning of the poem, which someone who is just learning their letters, or only reads and doesnt really think about what it is theyre reading, would definitely be thinking Im seeing a poem but I have no idea whats happening. This is all due to the sophistication of the language used to write these poems, for example; Theres an espaliered pear from On the Birth of a Son, and was the noise of guns battering besieged Tobruk. For the average person, these to short parts of sentences would result in a tedious search through the dictionary and/or
thesaurus.

Its very clear/obvious that these two poems have pretty different structures. Apology to My Father is a blank verse poem, which consists of; eight syllables per line and the same amount of lines within a verse. On the Birth of a Son, however, is a sonnet; ten rhythm lines, fourteen lines in total and a special pattern of end-of-line rhymes. There is a similarity though, both of the poems use weather, or non-living things to describe human situations, for example: Apology to My Father; That night the rain drums beat retreat and On the Birth of a Son; with flowers against the wall, its good to stare inwards. The simplicity of plants and weather in the form of euphemisms, metaphors, similes etc, sometimes describe human emotions better than logical sentences.

The themes and messages of these poems are very different but very similar all at the same time. Both of the poems are about the relationship between a father and son and coming to terms with something one of them is, or has been, racking their brains about for a very long time. Looking closer at the themes and messages of Apology to My Father, it can be found that its themes are based around regret and sadness about the past and in a way is sort of a coming of age/realisation poem. The messages found are that you should respect people in general, you shouldnt be afraid to show emotions or admit youre scared and that you should cherish the time you have with loved ones. On the Birth of a Son, however, has a happy and peaceful theme of realising the bright side of things that may make you nervous agitated, and the messages being that you should have more confidence in yourself, even when in self-doubt, also that you shouldnt be afraid to admit youre scared. Also that you should trust your humane instincts and most things should turn out all right.

As a reader reading these poems, you have to basically excavate the poem (like an archaeologist) and figure out everything, bold and subtle, to really get a true understanding of what the author intended on the poem signifying. Depending on how English-literate the reader is, the poem is easier/harder to depict. Personal experience and understanding will always play a big role in being able to decipher and relate to poems.

In conclusion, these two poems may not be classed within the same genre, but connections can be made. The poems have good morals and are a fairly joyful read, whether or not poetry is your thing. Im glad I chose these poems as I rather enjoyed them and felt relieved when I had released their meanings and connections to paper. Overall, two good poems.

Bibliography1. Apology to My Father, poem, David Hutchison2. On the Birth of a Son, poem, David Campbell